1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to boats, and more particularly pertains to a new and improved boat construction wherein said boat can be folded in half to form a cartop carrier.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of foldable boats is known in the prior art. An early example of a foldable boat is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,527,089, which issued to C. Shipley on Feb. 17, 1925. The Shipley boat comprises a canoe that is formed in two halves which are hingedly attached together. When not being utilized as a boat, the halves can be folded one on top of the other to form a trailer for the storage or transporting of camping material and the like.
Other folding transportable boats which can also be utilized as storage containers are to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 1,658,500, which issued to J. Tewes on Feb. 7, 1928; U.S. Pat. No. 2,422,930, which issued to L. Rutledge on June 24, 1947; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,881, which issued to J. Speranza on Jan. 1, 1980. These latter folding transportable boats are also designed to be attached to or carried on a trailer which is attachable to the bumper hitch of a towing vehicle.
While all of these prior art foldable transportable boats are functional for their intended purposes, it will be noted that all of them require the use of a wheeled trailer which is attachable to a towing structure associated with a vehicle. As can be appreciated, many drivers are reluctant to utilize trailers and as such, such foldable boat construction would not be particularly attractive to them. Further, these prior art foldable boats are complex in design and difficult to manufacture due to the requirement for a towing trailer assembly, and accordingly there appears to be a continuing need for improved foldable transportable boats. In this respect, the present invention addresses this need.